“Young master, eat up. Longevity noodles have to be eaten in one bite—you mustn’t bite through them.” Qinghe carried the bowl over to Shi Huai and said with a beaming smile.
Shi Huai picked up his chopsticks, lifted a single strand of noodles, and slurped it into his mouth whole. His cheeks puffed out.
Qinghe clapped her hands and laughed. “That’s right! One bite, and you’ll live to be a hundred!”
Sitting across from them, Shi Yuanping watched the scene with a faint smile curling at the corners of his mouth. But the smile never reached his eyes.
“Second Uncle, aren’t you eating?” Shi Huai swallowed the noodles and tilted his head to look at him.
“Second Uncle has already eaten. You go ahead.” Shi Yuanping lifted his wine cup and took a sip.
Shi Huai lowered his head and continued eating, but he was thinking to himself that something was troubling his second uncle today.
Sure enough, after he finished his noodles, Qinghe and Nanny Wang took the bowls and chopsticks to the kitchen. The moment they were gone, Shi Yuanping suddenly spoke.
“Shi Huai, would you like to go back to the Marquis’s residence for a visit?”
Shi Huai raised his head and met Shi Yuanping’s eyes. There was a seriousness in them he had never seen before.
“Go back to the Marquis’s residence? To see Grand Madam?”
Shi Huai’s voice was soft and childish, still carrying the milky lilt of a young child.
Shi Yuanping nodded. “Grand Madam isn’t in good health and wants to see you. Someone brought word yesterday, saying she wants you to stay there for a few days.”
Shi Huai fell silent for a while. He had lived at this estate for two years and had almost forgotten what the Marquis’s residence looked like.
But he remembered Grand Madam—the old woman who had rescued him from the side courtyard. He remembered the warmth of her hands when she held him and the sandalwood fragrance clinging to her clothes.
“Is Grand Madam ill?” Shi Huai asked.
“Not exactly. She’s simply grown old, and her health isn’t what it used to be.” Shi Yuanping’s tone was very soft, as though he were weighing every word.
“She wants to see you. If you’d like to go, I’ll take you back. If you don’t, I’ll send word that you’re still too young and the journey would be inconvenient.”
Shi Huai thought it over, then nodded. “I’ll go.”
He wanted to see the old woman again, and he also wanted to see what the Marquis’s residence had become.
More importantly, he wanted to see Madam Liu.
A complicated emotion flashed through Shi Yuanping’s eyes, but it was quickly hidden beneath his usual gentle smile. “All right. We’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning.”
When Qinghe heard that they were returning to the Marquis’s residence, she was so nervous that she didn’t sleep a wink.
The next morning, she appeared before Shi Huai with two dark circles beneath her eyes, carrying a bundle so large it was nearly bigger than she was. It was stuffed full of Shi Huai’s clothes and toys.
“Qinghe, we’re only going for a few days. We don’t need to bring so many things.” Shi Huai looked helplessly at the bundle.
“It never hurts to bring more. What if we need them?” Qinghe hoisted the bundle onto her shoulder, took Shi Huai’s hand with her other one, and marched out with great determination.
Shi Yuanping was already waiting at the entrance. It was the same carriage as before, with the same curtains, and even the coachman was the same.
Qinghe lifted Shi Huai into the carriage and settled him on the thick bedding. Through a gap in the curtain, he watched the world outside.
Shi Yuanping climbed in last and sat opposite him. He closed his eyes and did not say a word.
The carriage swayed gently as it left the estate, passed the stream and the fields, and headed toward the capital.
Shi Huai leaned against the carriage window, watching the scenery change from desolate farmland to bustling streets. An indescribable feeling welled up inside him.
Three years had passed. He had returned.
The vermilion gates of the Marquis of Yongning’s residence looked just as they had before. Two stone lions crouched on either side, their mouths open to reveal sharp teeth.
When the gatekeeper saw the carriage stop, he froze for a moment. But as soon as he saw Shi Yuanping climb out, he hurried over to greet him.
“Second Master, you’re back?”
Shi Yuanping nodded, then turned around and lifted Shi Huai from the carriage.
The gatekeeper’s gaze fell on Shi Huai’s face. His mouth opened so wide that it could have fit an egg inside.
“This… this is…”
“This is the young master. He’s back to see Grand Madam.” Shi Yuanping’s tone was indifferent. Holding Shi Huai in his arms, he walked straight inside.
The gatekeeper stood rooted to the spot, unable to react for quite some time.
The young master? Which young master? Hadn’t the Marquis only had two daughters?
Shi Huai rested his chin on Shi Yuanping’s shoulder and looked back at the gatekeeper, giving him a wide grin.
The gatekeeper was momentarily dazzled by the smile. He rubbed his eyes, but when he looked again, Shi Yuanping had already carried the child away.
Compared with before, the Marquis’s residence had not changed much, yet everywhere one looked, there was a sense of decline.
Shi Huai thought to himself that Madam Liu’s upheaval had scattered the entire household.
The door to Longevity Hall was still the same vermilion door, but the paint had begun to peel in places, and a layer of dust covered the bronze knockers.
Nanny Zhou stood at the entrance. When she saw Shi Yuanping approaching with the child in his arms, her eyes immediately reddened.
“Second Master, you’ve finally come. Grand Madam has been talking about you for days.”
Nanny Zhou’s voice was choked with emotion. She reached out and took Shi Huai into her arms, looking him over from head to toe.
“This is the young master? He’s grown so much! He’s… he’s such a fine-looking child.” Tears slipped down Nanny Zhou’s cheeks, and she quickly wiped them away with her sleeve.
Shi Huai reached out and touched her face, calling softly, “Hello, Nanny Zhou.”
That single greeting brought another rush of tears to Nanny Zhou’s eyes. Holding Shi Huai, she hurried inside, calling as she went, “Grand Madam, the young master is back! Come and see him!”
Grand Madam’s bedchamber was still just as Shi Huai remembered. The scent of aloeswood filled the room, and two pots of orchids bloomed beautifully on the windowsill.
Grand Madam lay on the bed. Her hair had gone completely white, and the wrinkles on her face were far deeper than they had been two years ago. Her eye sockets were sunken, and she had grown so thin that she seemed little more than skin and bones.
Yet her eyes were still bright. The instant she saw Shi Huai, an indescribable light burst from those cloudy old eyes.
“Come here. Let Grandmother have a look at you.” Grand Madam reached out, her voice so hoarse and faint that it was nearly inaudible.
Nanny Zhou placed Shi Huai beside Grand Madam and stepped aside, wiping away her tears.
Grand Madam raised a trembling hand and touched Shi Huai’s face, moving from his forehead to his brows, from his brows to his nose, and from his nose to his mouth, as though confirming that he was truly there.
“My grandson, my good grandson…” Grand Madam murmured. Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes and fell onto the pillow, staining it with a small, dark patch.
As those aged hands touched him, a wave of sorrow rose in Shi Huai’s heart.
He remembered how, several years ago, this old woman had held him in her arms and confronted Madam Liu, declaring, “I’m keeping this child.”
Back then, although her hair was already streaked with white, she had been vigorous and full of spirit. Her voice had been strong, and with her cane in hand, she had stood there so imposingly that no one in the entire Marquis’s residence had dared contradict her.
But now she lay on the bed, thin as a sheet of paper, barely strong enough to lift her hand.
“Grandmother, what’s wrong?”
Shi Huai clasped Grand Madam’s hand. It was icy cold, like a stone in winter.
“Grandmother is fine. I’m simply old.”
Grand Madam’s voice was soft—so soft that it seemed she was afraid of disturbing something.
“Once you grow old, you become useless. I can’t even get out of bed, and I don’t have the strength to make you a bowl of longevity noodles.”
Shi Huai’s nose stung, and he almost couldn’t hold back his tears.
“Grandmother, when I grow up, I’ll make it for you,” Shi Huai said in his soft, childish voice, full of innocent sweetness.
The Grand Madam froze for a moment, then smiled. There was nothing but bitterness in that smile. “All right. Grandmother will wait for you.”
Shi Yuanping stood at the doorway without entering, leaning against the frame as he watched the scene inside. His expression revealed nothing of what he was thinking.
Nanny Zhou walked over and lowered her voice. “Second Master, the Grand Madam’s illness… The physician says she needs to rest and recuperate properly. She mustn’t get upset again.”
Shi Yuanping nodded without saying a word.
Just then, the sound of footsteps came from the courtyard. An instant later, a maid’s voice rang out:
“Madam has arrived—”
